The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued an advisory warning taxpayers to be on the lookout for holiday-themed shopping scams.
“Abundant scams and rip-offs being seen by the IRS and the Security Summit partners include ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated phishing emails and related attacks on the unsuspecting,” the advisory says.
“Taxpayers can be duped into unwittingly handing over their confidential tax and financial information. Would-be victims could also get tricked into disclosing their addresses, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, or passwords, which can lead to tax-related identity theft and fraud.
The IRS says many of these scams impersonate delivery services, informing users of an issue with an order. Users should also expect an increase in scams impersonating the IRS as tax season approaches.
“In these scams, victims receive a text or email purporting to be from a company or business saying a delivery can’t be made along with a link to click to reschedule,” the advisory says. “But in reality, the link represents a form of phishing that attempts to steal personal information or download malware.
It’s a very prevalent scam expected to intensify during the holidays. Another common scam expected to intensify soon will involve emails pretending to be from the IRS or others in the tax industry. These frequently involve unexpected, good news, like a tax refund. But they can also involve variants telling people they have a tax bill or have tax documents available to download.”
The IRS offers the following advice to help users avoid falling for scams:
- Don't shop on unsecured public Wi-Fi in places like a mall or restaurant
- Ensure security software is updated on computers, tablets, and mobile phones
- Watch out and help protect the devices of family members who may not be technologically savvy, a wide range that goes from young children to older adults
- Make sure anti-virus software for computers has a feature to stop malware, and that there is a firewall enabled to prevent intrusions
- Use strong, unique passwords for online accounts
- Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible
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